SAIC to Begin Selling MGs in India by 2019

Chinese auto maker SAIC Motor Corporation will enter the India market with its once British MG brand for which it plans to have its fully-owned car manufacturing plant in the country.

The company expects to commence operations in the country by 2019 and is in the process of finalizing its manufacturing facility, SAIC Motor Corporation said in a statement. Besides, the company said, it is firming up product strategy for the market here, details of which will be announced later.

It will operate in the Indian through the fully-owned subsidiary ‘MG Motor India’ and has appointed ex-General Motors India head Rajeev Chaba as its President and MD. It is also bringing in industry veteran P Balendran as Executive Director.

As part of entry plans, the company would introduce environment-friendly mobility solutions under its iconic ‘MG’ (Morris Garages) brand.

The introduction of the iconic British sports car brand ‘MG’ in India is an important part of SAIC Motor’s global strategy.

The MG brand, which originated as an iconic British Racing Sports Brand in 1924, has evolved into a modern-day innovative brand through the last 93 years.

MG products, designed and engineered at its European and global design centers, will be manufactured in India while conforming to global quality standards and aligning with the Indian regulations, emission norms and driving conditions, the company said.

SAIC had earlier this year signed a term sheet to evaluate buying the Halol plant of General Motors in Gujarat after the American company decided to stop production as part of consolidation of manufacturing operations in India.

The Chinese company, however, did not enter into a formal agreement insisting that deal was subject to GM’s submission of all government approvals, settlement of labour and all other pending issues.

According to industry sources, the talks between the two players are ongoing despite delays. SAIC Motor said it expects to create sizable employment opportunities under the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Skill India’ initiatives.

In 2009, SAIC had bought 50 per cent stake in General Motors India during the bankruptcy crisis faced by the US auto major. Later, GM had bought back the stake. SAIC is currently ranked 46th in the Fortune Global 500 list with an annual revenue of over USD 100 billion.

Note: This article originally appeared in whole or part in The Times of India.

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From today’s “Financial Times Limited” come another story about the hopeful return of MG to the market. China’s Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) hopes to begin producing the MG TF roadster in Nanjing in May and at its plant in Longbridge, UK, within three months of that date, a senior executive said yesterday. But SAIC admitted the car’s long-awaited relaunch could be delayed again as it grapples with quality issues and rebuilds tooling bought in 2005 from bankrupt MG Rover and shipped to China by Nanjing Automobile (NAC), with which SAIC merged in December. “We want to begin production of cars at Longbridge as soon as possible, but the first priority for us is the quality of the product,” Chen Hong, SAIC’s president, told the Financial Times yesterday. “If we launch the product on the UK market and don’t have sufficient quality […]

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The first run of MG cars have left Birmingham’s Longbridge factory for the first time in more than three years. The cars, which departed the plant shortly after 11am on Thursday, will go on sale from September 20. Chinese owner SAIC/Nanjing began producing the sports car model, the TF LE500, at the factory last month. The Nanjing Automobile Corporation (NAC) bought the assets of the collapsed MG Rover organisation in 2005. Approximately 6,000 workers lost their jobs at Longbridge when the huge car plant closed in April that year. The return of car production to the plant has been heralded as a boost to business in the region. Staff

Concerns over the quality of the cars being built by Shanghai Automotive (SAIC) at the Birmingham-based Longbridge factory have caused further delays. The MG TF is due to be the first model launched by the Chinese firm in the UK and production began back in May 2007, but it was stopped not long after. Since then, NAC (the Chinese firm that bought the MG brand following the collapse of MG Rover) has been bought out by rival Shanghai Automotive and the delays have been further extended. NAC originally claimed that it would have the MG TF on sale in early 2007 and provide more than 1000 jobs. So far, the car’s launch is more than a year overdue and only 140 jobs have been created. President of SAIC, Chen Hong, claimed that “if we launch the product on the UK […]